Spindle coupling for centrifugal separators



Nov. 11 1924. I 1,515,060

J. B. M FADDEN SPINDLE COUPLING FOR CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATORS Filed June 25, 1920 Patented Nov. ll, i924,

JAMES B. MGFADDEN, 0'35 NEST CHESTER, EEI-INSYLVL YNZA, ASSIG-HO'R TO THE SHARPLES SEPARATOR 00., 01 'WEST GHEiSTEH, PEllhlSYLVl-tNIA, A COR- ronnrron on rnnnsvnvania.

SPINDLE COUPLING FOR CENTR-IIEUGAL SEPARATORS.

Application filed June 25, 1920. Serial No. 391,645.

To all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, JAMnsB. MOFADDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at West Chester, in the county of Chester, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Spindle Couplings for Centrifugal Separators, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in couplings for centrifugal separators for detachably supporting the bowl from the spindle.

An object of the invention is to provide a coupling which shall be simple in construction and wherein the parts thereof may be easily and quickly assembled and wherein said structure when assembled, shall be durable and shall cause said spindle to drive said bowl with accuracy under a wide margin of adverse conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spindle coupling of the above character wherein the engaging parts of the coupling attached to the bowl structure are internally disposed and thus protected from being battered through misuse in the handling of the bowl.

A further object of the invention is to provide a coupling wherein true running conditions of the bowl and spindle may be obtained even though the interengaging faces of the coupling become scored or battered or foreign matter lodges thereon.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings- I Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a rotatable supporting spindle and bowl wherein said spindle and bowl are connected by my improved coupling;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper end of the bowl and the coupling part carried thereby;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the supporting cap forming a part of the coupling, and

Fig. at is a top plan view of the same.

The invention has to do with a coupling for connecting the bowl of a centrifugal separator to the spindle which supports and rotates the bowl. One form of centrifugal separator to which my invention may be applied is shown in the patent granted to P. T. Sharples, September 3, 1918, No. 1,277 ,653. a

The invention consists broadly in providing a cone-shaped recess in the upper end of the bowl structure which is adapted to receive a cone-shaped member rigid with the lower end of the spindle. The cone-shaped surface on the spindle is adapted to interengage within the recess and the coneshaped surface thereof. Each surface is, as a matter of fact, the frustruin of a cone. The two parts of the coupling are held together by means of a cap and a spring, the

cap being secured to the bowl and forming an abutment for the spring which bears against a flange on the spindle and thus yieldingly forces the two contacting surfaces into engagement, thus suspending the bowl by the spindle and through the spring, so that it will be driven by said spindle.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have shown the invention applied to a centrifugal separating machine which includes a bowl 1 having an upwardly projecting stem 2 which is formed at its upper end with a recess 8. The wall ofthis recess has the shape of a frustrum of a cone with the base of the cone'at the upper end of tne projecting stem 2. The spindle for supporting and rotating the bowl is indicated at Said spindle at the lower end thereof, indicated at 5, is cone-shaped and this end of the spindle is adapted to fit within the recess 8 in the stem of the bowl. The inclination of the face of the lower end 5 of the spindle is similar to that of the recess 3,

so that these surfaces will inter-engage and form a frictional driving contact between the spindleand the bowl. The spindle just above the lower end 5 is provided with a flange 6 and a spring '7 seats against said flange. A cap 8 having an opening 9 to receive the stem of the spindle is adapted to be detachably connected with the stem 2 of the bowl, and the upper end of the cap forms an abutment for the spring '7. I have shown in the drawings the cap secured to the stem of the bowl by means of a bayonet joint consisting of opposed slots 10 adapted to engage the ends of projecting sleeves 11,

'11 carried by the stem 2 of the bowl.

In the assembling of the parts, a rod may be placed through the sleeves ll, 11 to hold the bowl from turning and for lifting the bowl to bring the friction driving surfaces of the coupling into engagement. ii spanner wrench may then be applied to the cap engaging the radial recesses 12 so as to hold the cap from turning and the cap forced down onto the stem of the bowl until the projecting ends of the sleeves are properly seatedin the bayonet slots 10 in the cap.

It will be apparent that by forming the driving surfaces of the coupling part attached to the bowl so that they are located internally, said surfaces are protected against being nicked through strilring or falling. Furthermore, by forming the engaging surfaces cone-shaped, and with the said engaging surfaces extending in the general direction of the longitudinal axis of the spindle as distinguished from the right anglestherefor, if either face becomes burrec or nicked, or any foreign matter lodges thereon, the end portion of the spindle will not enter quite so far into the recess, The spring will yield to allow thisposition of the parts, and this resultsinerely in the bodily shift of the bowl to one; side rather than the throwing of the longitudinal axis of the bowl at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the spindle. This bodily shift of the bowl to one side causes a slight eccentricity at this point, but this will. not throw the spindle out of line at the ball hearing, as the tendency of the bowl when running is to centralize itself. The cap, bayonet joint connection and the spring for yieldingly supporting the bowl, per se, form no part of my invention, but are shown, described and claimed in the patent granted to Lawrence P. 'Shai'ples, No. 1,373,206, issued March 29, 1921. i

It is obvious that changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts may be made, and that the shaping of the inter-engaging faces may also be varied, the essential feature consisting'in the locating of these faces so that they extend in the general direction of the longitudinal axis of therotati'ngspindle, as distinguished from a directi'onat rightangles to said axis as has heretofore been th practice.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I l. A centrifugal separator including in combination a supporting spindle, a bowl, and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spindle comprising inter-engaging parts having their contacting surfaces extending in the same general direction as the longitudinal axis of the spindle, said coupling'being constructed and arranged to permitbdd'ily lateral movement ofsaid parts relatii' ely to maintain the parallelism of the longitudinal axis of said spindle and bowl.

2. A centrifugal separator including in combination a supporting spindle, a bowl and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spindle comprising inter-engaging parts havi their contacting surfaces extending in the same 'eneral direction as the longi tudinal axis or the spindle, spring means for holding said inter-engaging parts in contact and supporting said bowl and a cap forming an abutment for said spring, said cap having an opening, the walls of which are spaced suliiciently from said spindle to permit the bodily lateral shifting of said parts relatively,

3. i centrifugal separator including in combination a spindle, a bowl, and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spindle comprising an internally located engagface connected to said bowl and an externally disposed engaging face connected to said spindle, said engaging faces being disposed in the same general direction as the longitudinal axis of the spindle, said coupling being constructed and arranged to permit bodily lateral movement of said parts relatively to maintain the parallelism of the lon itudinal axis of said spindle and bowl i. A centrifugal separator including in combination a spindle, a bowl, and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spinii face connected to said bowl and an externally disposed engaging face connected to said spindle, said engaging faces being disposed in the ame general direction as the longitudinal axis of the spindle, and spring means for yieldingly holding said engaging faces in contact and supporting saidbowl,

said coupling being constructed and arranged to permit bodily lateral movement of said parts relatively tov maintain the parallelisin of the longitudinal axis of said spindie and bowl. 7

5. A centrifugal separator including in combination a spindle, a bowl, and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spindle comprising a cone-shaped recessed member connected to said bowl, and a coneshaped driving member connected to said spindle and adapted to engage said coneshaped recess, said coupling being construct-- ed and arranged to permit relative lateral movement between the spindle and bowl.

6. A centrifugal separator including in.

le comprising an internally located engagi mit the bodily lateral shifting of said parts relatively.

7. A centrifugal separator including in combination a spindle, a bowl, and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spin dle comprising a cone-shaped recessed member connected to said bowl, a cone-shaped driving member connected to the spindle, said cone-shaped driving member having a shoulder at the upper face of the cone, a spring encircling the spindle and bearing against said shoulder, a ca 3 having an opening for the spindle and orming an abutment for said spring, and means for detachably connecting said cap to said bowl.

8. A centrifugal separator including in combination a spindle, a bowl and a coupling for connecting said bowl to said spindle comprising engaging faces, a shoulder on the spindle, a spring surrounding the spindle and bearing against said shoulder, a cap housing said spring and forming an abutment for the upper end thereof, and a bayonet joint connection between said cap and bowl including alined sleeves projecting from the stem f the bowl and engaging the slots of the bayonet joint, said sleeves being adapted to receive a rod and hold the bowl from turning when assembling the parts of the coupling.

9. The combination of a suspended spindle having a driving surface extending in the same general direction as the longitudinal axis of the spindle, a bowl having a correspondingly formed surface adapted to contact with said spindle driving surface whereby the bowl is driven'through said spindle, and means for yieldingly holding said surfaces in contact, said means being constructed and arranged to permit the axes of rotation of said spindle and bowl to shift laterally relatively.

10. The combination of a suspended spindle having a driving surface extending in the same general direction as the longitudinal axis of the spindle, a bowl having a correspondingly formed surface adaptedto contact with said spindle driving surface whereby the bowl is driven through said spindle, and quick detachable means for yieldingly holding said surfaces in contact, said means being constructed and arranged to permit the axes of rotation of said spindle and bowl to shift laterally relatively.

11. The combination of a suspended spindle, a bowl, said spindle and bowl having engaging driving faces inclined to their longitudinal axes, and means including a spring adapted to flexibly couple said driving surfaces, said means being constructed and arranged to permit the axes of rotation of said spindle and bowl to shift laterally relatively.

12. The combination of a suspended spindle, a bowl, said spindle and bowl having engaging driving faces inclined to their longitudinal axes, and quick detachable means including a spring for flexibly coupling said driving surfaces said means being constructed and arranged to permit the axes of rotation of said spindle and bowl to shift laterally relatively.

13. The combination of a suspended spindle provided with a driving face, a bowl having a cooperative driving face and hollow lugs adapted to receive a pin therethrough, a cap having an apertured top through which the driving spindle freely passes, a spring housed in said cap between the spindle driving face and the apertured end, said cap having bayonet slots in its skirts adaptedto engage the hollow lugs, said cap having opposed slots radiating from the aperture therein for the engagement of a spanner wrench.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

JANIES B. MCFADDEN. 

